What's changed is how authors write. The classical novels we're required to read in high school or college were written during prior times (sometimes, from many different time periods) and always reflect the usage of the language at that time.

Popular novels are and have always been this way. Hugo provides no tactical descriptions at all of the Battle of Waterloo in Les Miserables, but describes, eloquently and in detail, the plight of the Parisian poor of the 1830s, for example; by contrast, David Weber provides exhaustively detailed tactical descriptions of virtually all space battles presented in his Honor Harrington series (to the point you could reconstruct the battles if desired), but ignores any mention of any Manticoran citizens who are, as a group, disadvantaged in or disaffected with their society as it is (barely, in pencil lines) described.

[font size="0"]I've tried to make the above single sentence as grammatically correct as possible. If I didn't, well, mea culpa.[/font]

Both require an attentive reader, just for different reasons. I think you may be getting hung up on style, here, and not content.